What is Rutherfordium?
Rutherfordium is a chemical element which can only be produced synthetically. Little is known about this element, because it has only been produced in small volumes and it is difficult to study. As a result of its rarity, no commercial uses have been developed for rutherfordium, and most people are unlikely to ever encounter this element. This is probably just as well for average individuals, as rutherfordium is radioactive.
This element can be produced synthetically by irradiating plutonium. Scientists have also succeeded in creating various isotopes of rutherfordium by bombarding and irradiating various other elements. Rutherfordium has a very short half life, as do its isotopes, making study of the element difficult; its chemical properties are presumed to be similar to those of hafnium, a related element.
On the periodic table of elements, rutherfordium is identified with the symbol Rf, and it has an atomic number of 104, placing it beyond the actinide elements. Rutherfordium and other heavier elements are known as transactinide elements. Scientists assume that this element is metallic in nature, and they have made other conjectures about its chemical structure and appearance, but none of these suppositions have been confirmed.
Credit for the discovery of this element is actually contentious. Researchers at a lab in Russia led by G.N. Flerov published the discovery of the element in 1964, proposing “kurchatovium” as a name to honor a famous Russian scientist. In 1969, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley were unable to replicate the work of the Russians, but they did discover some additional isotopes of element 104, proposing “rutherfordium” as a name to honor Ernest Rutherford, a 1908 Nobel Prize winner from New Zealand.
The battle over credit for the discovery of the element went on until the 1990s, when it was decided that both labs should be given credit, and the name “dubnium” was given to element 105 to honor the Russian laboratory. To add to the confusion, some scientists call rutherfordium eka-hafnium.
This element and its isotopes are used in scientific research. Scientific laboratories work with the transactinide elements in the hopes of learning more about them, and hopefully finding useful potential applications for them. The radioactivity of rutherfordium can make it challenging to work with, and the short half life of this element can be frustrating as well.
Written by S.E. Smith
